


Of Galaxies and Beetles

by ghaskan



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Fluff, M/M, No Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 06:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9480236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghaskan/pseuds/ghaskan
Summary: Gokuhara Gonta sets off in search of insects within the school's caged grounds, but ends up finding something else entirely...





	

Gifted Inmates Academy had seemingly become one with nature after its expansive garden invaded the inwards of the building, covering the walls with a growing mass of grass and flowers. However, to Gokuhara Gonta this fusion reeked like a façade. Despite the abundance of greenery, there were no animals in sight—not even the tiniest of insects. Nonetheless, Gokuhara refused to yield his search, even if it was a fool’s errand. He was stubborn like that, at least when it came to insects.

When nightfall came, he grabbed his bug net and sneaked from the school building to the garden. The metal bars over his head glimmered as they were bathed by the light of the crescent moon and the stars. Knowing that they were imprisoned within a cage never failed to fill Gokuhara with unease. In a way, he was glad that, save for the sixteen students, no other animal inhabited inside. Wild creatures were not meant to lead such confined lives.

Letting go of his distracting thoughts, Gokuhara focused all five of his senses on the task at hand. Beneath his bare feet, he still could not sense any vibrations. The night was quiet, way too quiet, and the only smell Gokuhara could detect was that of the plants and the soil. He kept his eyes wide open, hoping to find the soft glow of a firefly, perhaps.

After passing through yet another wall of trees, Gokuhara spotted a small meadow, as well as a shadowy figure belonging to something moving—something living! The situation called for fast reflexes, and so Gokuhara swung the bug net with lighting speed, determined to catch the creature. Once that was done, his rational mind took the reins, only to find that the creature was far too large to be an insect. In fact, this “creature” was a human, and one Gokuhara knew at that.

Momota Kaito, who had been sitting in peace, watching the stars, turned to face his captor, while sweating bullets and wearing one of the most horrifying faces to ever grace the planet.

“Momota-san!” Gokuhara blurted out. He reeled the bug net back, then knelt down to grab Momota by the shoulders. “Gonta is so, so sorry, Momota-san! Are you all right?!”

Momota’s features softened as he recovered from his state of shock. He blinked his eyes, and noticed a familiar face right in front of his own. “G-Gokuhara?” He glanced at the meaty hands grasping his shoulders with a tad more strength than he would like. “Can ya, um, take your hands off my shoulders?”

“Aah! Sorry! Gonta is sorry!”

“Hey, man, it’s fine! All in the past already. Though, I have to ask… why did ya try to fish me up with that thing?” He pointed at the bug net, which had fallen to the ground earlier.

“Oh…” Gokuhara picked it up, then placed it on his lap after sitting down next to Momota. “Well, Gonta was looking for his insect friends.”

Momota scratched the back of his head. “Didn’t ya say there weren’t any during dinner?”

“Well, Gonta didn’t find any during the day, but since there are insects who are only active during the night, Gonta figured he might as well give it another try.”

“Mm, I see… any luck?”

Gokuhara crossed his arms and looked to the side dejectedly. “Gonta found no insects, again. The only thing he managed to catch was Momota-san.”

“Hey, least I’m a pretty good catch, ain’t that right?” Momota said with a wink.

Gokuhara rubbed the nape of his neck, unsure about how to answer. He still was no good at social interactions, after all. He gave the other a quick smile and tried changing the subject, “More importantly, what was Momota-san doing out there?”

“Well, I was lookin’ at those beauties over there!” Holding a wide grin, Momota pointed upwards.

Gokuhara’s eyes followed the motion, and he found himself staring at the glittering sky. “Oh, of course! Momota-san is the Super High School Level Astronaut, so naturally he would love stargazing.” He let out a sigh. “Aah, Momota-san sure is lucky, always having the stars by his side.”

Momota rested his chin in his hand. “Hmm, I’m not so sure about that,” he said with a tone more somber than usual. “To be able to see the stars, you’re at the mercy of the weather. And, ‘sides…” He returned his gaze to the night sky, his eyes filled with longing, and stretched out his hand as if he meant to grab an entire constellation and pull it back to Earth. “The stars look like they’re real close, and yet, they’re so far away…”

“Oh! Sorry!! Gonta shouldn’t have compared his luck to Momota-san’s. It was a very rude thing to say…”

_Shit. I sure dampened the mood, didn’t I? Well, time to put a band aid on it_ , Momota thought. Afterwards, he let out a chuckle. “Don’t worry ‘bout it man. I understand your feelings; it’s hard to not feel like crap when you’re out of your element.” He paused for a moment. “Hey, say, how ‘bout I teach ya how to find a constellation or two? Sounds good?”

Gokuhara nodded vigorously. “Yes, Gonta would love to hear what Momota-san has to say about space!”

Momota balled up his fists and let them collide in front of his chest. “All right, so, listen up! Constellations are patterns of stars that people came up with to group ‘em more easily. Though, people all have their own ideas ‘bout these things, and the sky appears different depending on where on Earth you’re, so, to put it bluntly, there’s a fuckton of ‘em. Anyway, they tend to be based off the shapes of familiar things, like animals.”

Gokuhara couldn’t help but interrupt after a thought crossed his mind. “Momota-san! Are there any insect constellations?!” The shine in Gokuhara’s eyes as he leaned closer to Momota almost rivaled that of the stars above.

A single drop of sweat dripped off Momota’s chin. Gokuhara was way too close, and that was making his heart race a little too fast. Still, Momota steeled his nerves and soldiered on as Gokuhara listened intently, “Ya bet! Well, to be honest I only know of one… but, anyway! There’s this constellation called Musca, and if you guessed it was named after flies, ding dong, you’re a winner! It used to be called Apis, named after, ya guessed it, bees. They ended up changing the name ‘cause it was too similar to another constellation near it, named Apus. Ya can’t really see the Musca constellation from Japan, though, or from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere for that matter.”

After hearing those words, Gokuhara started looking like a dejected puppy. Momota could not bear the guilt needling him for disappointing the entomologist (even if it wasn’t his fault), so he decided to change the course of the conversation.

“Anyway, I’m probably just boring ya with all this talk,” Momata began, but Gokuhara cut him off.

“Momota-san was not boring Gonta at all! Gonta found out that hearing Kaito talk so passionately about space makes him happy.”

Momota turned his head to the side to hide the slight blushing that had found its way to one of his cheeks. _What am I supposed to say when he’s being so goddamned honest?_

“Momota-san?”

“Uh!” Momota let out a nervous chuckle and faced Gokuhara once more. “Then… why don’t ya talk to me a bit ‘bout insects?”

Gokuhara beamed. “If Momota-san does not mind it, Gonta would love to!”

Momota gave him a wink and thumbs-up. “I don’t mind at all. Go right ahead, man!”

Gokuhara crossed his arms. “Hmm… Is there any insect Momota-san would like to hear Gonta talk about?”

“I dunno… I know a bit ‘bout the bugs that get sent to space like fruit flies, but that’s it. Is there any insect you think I’d like?”

Gokuhara tapped his chin with his index finger as he pondered the issue. “Ah!” he blurted out after a while. “Then Gonta will talk to Momota-san of the insect that looks like a galaxy, the _Chlorocala africana oertzeni_!”

Momota let out a short, sharp whistle. “Well, doesn’t that sound fancy.”

“To put it another way, they are flower scarabs, a family of small beetles. _Chlorocala africana_ all are very colourful, but the _Chlorocala africana oertzeni_ is special because it is blue and purple. In fact, their purple almost looks like Momota-san’s hair! They also are very popular with people who have decided to raise beetles, since they are beginner friendly.”

“That’s pretty cool! I hope to be able to see one after we get outta here.”

“Gonta will be sure to give a couple to Momota-san so that he can raise a whole bunch of those beautiful beetles.”

“Bring it on!”

With the ice standing between the two of them gone for good, Gokuhara and Momota continued chatting late into the night, until sleepiness overtook them and sent the boys to the realm of dreams...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I swear my titles keep getting worse and worse.  
> It was only a matter of time until I wrote some GontaxKaito (or, as I like to call it, Gonkai). Well, here it is at last. What's with me and shipping big guys with magenta dudes?  
> This might or might not be continued, hence the open end. I feel that, if nothing else, this will serve as nice grounds for my future Gonkai fics. I can't get to the romance part if they have to break the ice each time!
> 
> This was written shortly after the Japanese release of DRV3, so it's very possible the characterization is off to a degree.


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